UK experts to examine MH17's black boxes, PM says

Experts will retrieve data from the flight recorders for "international analysis" after a request from the Dutch Government

A man walks past a piece of the crashed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine

British air accident investigators will examine the black boxes from downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

Experts based in Farnborough in Hampshire will retrieve data from the flight recorders for "international analysis" after a request from the Dutch Government, Mr Cameron said in a tweet.

Netherlands prime minister Mark Rutte had earlier said that the first aircraft containing bodies of the 298 people killed over eastern Ukraine, which included 10 Britons, would arrive in Eindhoven tomorrow.

Mr Cameron tweeted: "We've agreed Dutch request for air accident investigators at Farnborough to retrieve data from £MH17 black boxes for international analysis.''

His announcement came after Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond joined other EU foreign ministers in Brussels for talks about the shooting down of the Boeing 777-200 airliner last Thursday.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) confirmed it would be working on the black boxes, which have been handed over by the Russia-backed separatists, who have been blamed for the atrocity.

An AAIB spokesman said: "We can confirm that the UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch based in Farnborough has been asked to carry out the data analysis of theMH17 black boxes.

"The AAIB team in the Ukraine will continue their work there assisting the international investigation.

Yesterday afternoon Mr Rutte said that a train carrying the bodies of those killed had arrived in Kharkiv, which is controlled by the Ukrainian government, at 10.30am and the black boxes destined for the UK were on board.

He said Dutch officials hoped that the first flight carrying the victims would leave for the Netherlands today.

He said: "As soon as the aircraft lands at Eindhoven Airport, the victims will be transported to the Korporaal van Oudheusden barracks in Hilversum, and once a positive identification has been made, the immediate next step will be to inform the next of kin. No-one else.

"This may happen rapidly, but I have to caution you that it could also take weeks or even months."

He added that the Netherlands would lead the investigation into the shooting down of MH17 at the request of the Ukrainian government.

He added: "Our next priority is investigating the cause of the disaster. We will leave no stone unturned."

Meanwhile, the European Union inched towards introducing economic sanctions against Vladimir Putin's Russian "cronies" over the shooting down of MH17.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels agreed "concrete proposals" to draw up a list of the Russian president's associates who would be subject to punitive measures, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said.

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